My Dad

My Dad passed away a couple of months ago. He was 84 and died of a very aggressive cancer (Metastatic Angiosarcoma, if you're interested). I know I'm biased, but Stan Sydenham was a great man. Everyone liked him and he was the very embodiment of 'the life and soul of the party'. I loved him very much, I was very proud of him, and I miss him a great deal.

Two months after his death, the thing that really strikes me is that I feel I've, all of a sudden, grown up. I'm not in the first flush of youth (or even the second), but I now realise that I've spent the past 30ish years of my adult life, thinking that I'm still a young man and my Dad will always be there to help and support me. Now that he's not around, the added responsibility I have of being there for my Mum has put an extra wrinkle in my brow and a few extra gray hairs at my temples. I'm sure this is the normal reaction to a loved one's death, I'm sure, over time, life will settle into it's post-Stan normality, but just at the moment I feel every one of my 52 years.

New York in minature

Click on the HD button and watch it in full-screen for the best effect.

The Sandpit from Sam O'Hare on Vimeo.

Stunning Oscar winning animated short

Logorama, an Oscar winning animated short by François Alaux and Herve de Crecy of H5 featuring over 2,500 company logos.

The Weather

I’d just like to say I’m getting really fed up with the weather.  Thank you.

Harold Budd kept me sane

It's been a gloomy week this week. Apart from the rain and wind, my PC decided to call it a day (I had backed everything up the day before, thanks for asking).

So in need of a bit of cheering up where do I turn? Lady GaGa? Pet Shop Boys? Lily Allen? Well, all of these actually, but the music that really did the trick was Harold Budd and his neo-classical doodlings. Along with his mates Brian Eno and Andy Partridge, it's been just the right sort of music to wash over me, allowing me to get an important report written and forget about the most depressing month of the year. I commend Mr Budd and his works to you.

National Geographic

I'm a big fan of National Geographic Magazine for the quality of their articles and the brilliance of their photographs. This month's issue is well up to standard and I was very struck by one picture by Monica Szczupider of chimpanzees mourning the death of one of their number.

Cameroon—At the Sanaga-Yong Chimpanzee Rescue Center, more than a dozen residents form a gallery of grief, looking on as Dorothy—a beloved female felled in her late 40s by heart failure—is borne to her burial.

Original Jake and Dinos Chapman art

I've been having a bit of a trawl through my database (it's nice to have a tidy up occasionally). I came across the following artwork which was given away, I think, by the Guardian website. It's by Jake and Dinos Chapman and I thought that you out there in the Blogosphere might be interested.